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Monday, October 03, 2005
Not on your side
When will the majority of the American public realize that the Republican party is not on their side? From Kevin Drum:
They are not interested in educating your children. They are not interested in helping you get healthcare. And they're not even all that interested in protecting you from terrorists.Reed Hundt writes that back when he was chairman of the FCC he spent some time seeking support for legislation that would pay for internet access in all classrooms and libraries in the country. He asked Bill Bennett if he'd be willing to help: "Since Mr. Bennett had been Secretary of Education I asked him to support the bill in the crucial stage when we needed Republican allies. He told me he would not help, because he did not want public schools to obtain new funding, new capability, new tools for success. He wanted them, he said, to fail so that they could be replaced with vouchers, charter schools, religious schools, and other forms of private education. Well, I thought, at least he's candid about his true views."
18 Comments:
dont get me started about whos on whos side in the government. name 1 person in elected office that doesnt put getting reelected over whats good for the american people.
its a bunch of bullshit, dems, reps, red, blue. it is all the same.
By 
, at
1:50 PM
All politicians act in their best interest. If they didn't, they'd never get elected.
Part of democracy is rallying neighbors to help convince politicians that their best interests align with their constituents.
I think that's a better answer than I had for you in the car.
I disagree
you will never get enough neighbors to influence politicians more than tobacco, drug companies, the NRA, churches.
never.
I think democracy is the wrong word. it is an ogliarchy. controlled by the super rich.
when is the last time a normal income person was elected to office.
By , at
2:10 PM
Churches and the NRA, at least, are made up of people. Tobacco and the drug lobby are pure money.
It's still a rigged game, with well over 90% of incumbents winning re-election.
churches and NRA are a small minority with big pockets.
its stupid and I am frustrated with it.
By , at
2:24 PM
I understand being frustrated with it. At bottom, tho, churchgoers got out and voted in the last election. Tony Perkins and James Dobson don't spend a lot on television commericals and lobbying. All their efforts are in direct mail contacts with likeminded individuals, motivating them to vote.
The NRA is similar, but has more money. On the other end of the spectrum are big drug companies which represent the interests of very few people with very large doses of money.
what do we do about it
By , at
2:31 PM
If one out of every 10 progressive voters convinced one Bush voter from 2004 to change sides in 2006, it will be a landslide.
you are missing the point mr hammer. kerry was just as retarded as bush. well maybe that isnt true, but they both had the same agenda.
By , at
2:39 PM
Yeah, I thought about that after hitting publish. No good answers there. I'm not thrilled with the Democratic position on many, many issues.
I don't know how you change that. I think parties change based on elected leaders. One good candidate can vitalize a party.
Every once in a while good people really do get elected. Even tho Hammer, for reasons that were never really clear to me, was not a fan I think Paul Wellstone was a prime example. Did anybody think he wasn't on the side of "regular" people? That said, it's a stretch to think of many others like him, tho I'm sure there must be several out there.
I don't talk about my disaffection for Wellstone much, especially now. I agreed with most of his politics, but I found him personally grating.
Couple of comments:
Tard, it's not democracy, it's republic. Big difference.
That being said, the Democrats are in disarray and it's disappointing that they don't really offer much at this point to counter the mess the Republicans have created.
Jambo, you're right, of course. They're not on our side.
By , at
3:21 PM
its an ogliarchy controlled by the very rich. I dare anyone to prove me wrong.
By , at
3:30 PM
when is the last time a normal income person was elected to office
Mark Dayton aside I don't know that anyone in the MN delegation is particularly wealthy. None of hte others come from "old money" in the way W or even FDR did. And of course FDR was considered a traitor to his class.
Define what you mean by "its an ogliarchy controlled by the very rich" and I'll give it a shot.
could you or I run for office, no
we lack the funding
why
cause we are not super rich
oh and I am retarded too but that is beside the point
By , at
4:43 PM
Seems to me that the majority of US Senators are millionaires. That doesn't mean what it once did -- practically everyone who owns a house in California will be a millionaire sooner or later -- but it does mean this: if you've got 1,000,000 in the bank, you can afford to take 9 months off work to campaign full time.
Seems to me that the majority of US Senators are millionaires.
I found this story from 2003 that says at least 40 of them were then. The financial disclosure forms they fill out only require ranges of values for their assets, so one can't make exact calculations.
I found it interesting that the richest five were Democrats. I had no idea Sen. Feinstein was so loaded, and of course John Kerry is literally richer than Rockefeller.
By 
Joseph Thvedt, at
8:43 AM
